Residents view plans for Timberneck park

More than 100 residents gathered at Gloucester’s T.C. Walker Educational Center last Wednesday, June 6, for an informational session on future plans for a state park at the county’s Timberneck site.

Representatives from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and The Conservation Fund (which currently owns the property) were on hand to provide information. Following a presentation, the floor was opened to public comments and questions.

The Timberneck property, which at one point was intended to be used for a housing development, is around 645 acres and sits between Timberneck and Cedar Bush creeks near the Ordinary portion of Route 17.

The Virginia General Assembly approved DCR acquisition of the property once phase one construction is complete. By July, funding will also become available to hire a park manager.

A DCR spokesperson confirmed that funding is already in place for phase one construction that is required to get the site open to the public.

Phase one includes a launching area for kayaks, canoes and paddleboards, camp sites, and an open-air structure for historical interpretation.

According to a DCR spokesperson, there is also “a vision to have a Rosewell unit in the future.” Initially, the state had planned for the park to be closer to Rosewell and it owns a large tract on the York River there; however, the existing infrastructure of Timberneck (roads, bike paths and a gatehouse) played a role in the decision to acquire and create that park site first.

Still, DCR staff expressed a desire to eventually add camp sites, interpretive areas, and other park resources to a site near the historic Rosewell ruins and have the state park comprise two units: a “Timberneck unit” and a “Rosewell unit.”

Future phases are slated to include a ramp for motorized boats, two picnic shelters, a lecture space, camp sites for tents as well as limited numbers of RVs, six rental cabins, spaces for “unscheduled recreation,” and a shower facility, though DCR staff added that community input will be gathered “every step of the way” before final decisions are made.